Ars readers react to the light on their webcams

We also talk limitations on spying and island binary.

Most Ars readers are well aware of the issues that encompass Remote Administration Tools (RATs), which hackers often furtively plant on their targets' computers to gather all sorts of information about them. One notorious use of RAT technology is to turn on the webcam on the victim's computer while disabling the webcam light, so the victim has no idea that they are being watched. Recently, Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf was a victim of just such a scheme, and the perpetrator tried to blackmail her using the photos he gathered.

Generally, tech-savvy people have advised the less-tech-savvy to either place a piece of tape over their webcam lenses when not in use, or to seek a computer in which the on-off LED is hardwired to light up when the camera is active. But a recent study shows that, in fact, many laptops with hardwired LEDs actually have a layer of software that can be manipulated to turn the light off while the camera is on. Peter Bright brought us the whole story in his article Perv Utopia: Light on MacBook webcams can be bypassed.

To the advice that "you should ignore the technology and simply tape" over your webcam, RockDaMan wrote "Next they'll develop an algorithm to decode the light that does pass through the tape and form it into a coherent image." tigas, another member of the Gaffer tape cult, wrote "Gaffer tape solves that everything!"

TheIrishman has a sick sense of justice: "Hahahahaha I'm just laughing thinking of the poor sod going blind after staring at my fat a$$ through my webcam. They'll need gaffer tape for their eyes!" asbath had another solution. "Do they make little tinfoil hats for webcams? While electrical tape ought to do the job, you can never be too sure, thus a tinfoil hat should thwart all remaining hacking attempts on your webcam!"

And Major General Thanatos summed it up pretty nicely: "I've found it amusing how in the past few years, paranoid actions with regard to privacy are finally seen as perfectly reasonable."

On the phone records

This week, a panel appointed by President Obama to review the surveillance techniques employed by the National Security Agency (NSA) released its findings, with surprising results. While the panel consisted mostly of government insiders, the recommendations it made were anything but pro-status quo. Among other things, the panel suggested that a third party, rather than the NSA, store metadata records for telephone communications, and it wanted the agency to tighten up its access to those records.

Solomonoff's Secret wrote, "This is Obama's last chance to do what's right. Let's hope he considers his legacy when deciding whether to continue down the path to oppression. Let's also hope that courts force his hand to the greatest degree possible." ShakuArai was less optimistic. "This would be a step in the right direction if it were sincere, sadly I'm sure this will likely become no more than the political distancing from the wrongdoing performed by the NSA while they simultaneously work in the background to enable them to continue 'as is' under renewed secrecy."

Like any good skeptic, Optikal256 saw a potential loophole in the recommendations. "I didn't see any mention of the problem of collaborating with foreign government intelligence bodies. Sure, we pass all these privacy limitations on the NSA, but what's to stop them from working with their buddies in the GCHQ, if the GCHQ collects all this data on US citizens and makes it available to the NSA. Maybe the NSA collects mass data on UK citizens and makes it available to GCHQ. This is already happening today, and I don't see anything in this report that addresses it."

matthewslyman broke out the sarcasm: "Perhaps the telephone companies will be more responsible stewards of these data. After all, I can't see bored telecoms engineers trawling through that data. Can you? Still, if it puts the public on notice that their 'metadata' are being 'aggregated' and their contact networks are being profiled, this is an improvement on the current state of affairs."

Ones and zeroes

John Timmer brought us an interesting report this week concerning some researchers who wrote a paper on the counting systems of the indigenous people of Mangareva in Polynesia. The members of that population, the researchers are convinced, "performed full binary calculations but layered the results on top of a decimal counting system." Check out the whole report at Polynesians may have beat computers to using binary.

Comedian orledret wrote, "There's only one group of people in the world: those who don't use the Mangarevan numerical system."

Ostracus hoped for something deeper in our computational heritage: "Now all we need to do is find an ancient society that used hexadecimal." To which somini quipped, "UNIX sysadmins?"

If your webcam is an add on like mine, just rotate it. No muss. No fuss. No sticky residue.

I have a Logitech c525, and it has a built in swivel so the camera portion can be rotated. I have also noticed a number of other models have this feature also. When I'm not using the camera, I just rotate the top of the unit sideways. It still has a USB cord so I can't go backwards. This way to me, it doesn't matter if it gets hacked, they can't see anything.

As for the tape method others have mentioned, I have a suggestion. Start with a small piece of card-stock, plastic or even a penny. Next, get a good strong tape. It doesn't matter if it leaves residue as the plan it to leave it in place. My personal choice is Gorilla Tape. This stuff takes paint off walls when removed. So be careful. Lastly, take the penny (or whatever) and tape just from one side, and then attach the other end of the tape to the top of your webcam (or just above it for a laptop). This way, you have a permanent flap that can be flipped up and down as necessary.

On topic: I really wish laptops that included cameras included shutters as a rule.

It has been said that it would make the laptop screen too thick at that point. I think the best solution is a physical power switch for the webcam. No power, no image, no spying. When the switch is closed and power goes to the webcam, turn the LED on regardless of whether a program is receiving data from it.

I avoid the problem by not having a webcam in the first place. Never felt the need for one tbh.

Kind of hard to find laptops without that. I have to either get some very hokey OEM models, or pay extra for the privilege of not having a camera, though even the last option seems to have disappeared after even business laptops have cameras for video-conferencing now.

If anyone is really paranoid about this you can detach or remove the webcam from your notebook entirely. It's not particularly hard for anyone comfortable opening up electronics. I've done it for a few of my more paranoid (and mostly female) friends.

As for me, I've verified that the notebook I own doesn't have this problem.